page 3
just out
by Marty Davis
J
Thanks for the Memories
NEWSMAGAZINE
VOL. 23 NO. 10
MARCH 17, 2006
Two years later, a look back on Portland's moment in the spotlight
wo years ago this month, residents of Multnomah County were swept
up in a rushing current of emotions as they celebrated, debated,
thanked, cursed and questioned the decision of Multnomah County
commissioners to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
For days, Portland joined the other mainstage performers as battles for
civil rights played out in San Francisco and towns and cities across the nation.
Local television stations jostled for position as they geared up for “Gay Team
Watch.” Weather reporters traded Troutdale and Sylvan Hill for the relative com
fort of Hawthorne Boulevard. KPTV must have shown the same images from the
wedding ceremony of Mary Li and Becky Kennedy a million times. I’ve seen it
so often now that I forever will be able to identify the garish striped wallpaper of
that Hilton Hotel room. For many people, this quiet and unassuming lesbian cou
ple became the embodiment of “gay marriage.” They stepped up and allowed
their most private moment together to become the focal point of a media frenzy.
Did we ever thank them properly for allowing this intrusion into their lives?
Two years ago in Portland, it was gray rainy day followed by gray rainy day.
For a bright few days, however, the gloom was broken by the sight of colorful
rainbow umbrellas and flower-bedecked lines of marriage license applicants as
they came in swarms and droves to take their place among the celebrants cir
cling the Multnomah Building. This was where the action was. Traffic lanes in
the front were blocked off for demonstrators; those for and those against events
of the day mingled together in front of ever-present green-clad sheriff’s deputies.
It was here that we first met senior activist Nelson Jones, standing with his
sign of solidarity and well wishes. It was here that we saw Tom Potter stepping up
in his campaign for mayor. It was the front of the county building that sheltered
the early clusters of family, friends and spouses-to-be as they stood together all
night in anticipation of the morning issuance of the first licenses. It was here that
those with the authority to do so offered prayers, support and hasty but meaning
ful ceremonies for those emerging from the building with paperwork in hand.
And it was here that 1 found myself engaged in a surprisingly warm and
thoughtful conversation with the wife of now beleaguered Lou Beres, head of
the Christian Coalition of Oregon. Though we were clearly on opposite sides
of a political, spiritual and cultural chasm, this woman made it clear that she
did not harbor hate or malice in her heart. 1 wish her well as she deals with her
husband’s legal dilemmas as well as the ongoing medical problems of her son-
in-law, Sgt. Damon Coates of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department.
Everyone who participated in or viewed from a distance the events of
March 2004 came away with their own memories, feelings and impressions.
These are just a few of mine.
Those joining me in a trip back to March 2004 will likely experience an
emotional whiplash as we return to March 2006. What a journey we’ve taken
reflections
10 Years Ago in Just Out...
volume 13 number 10, march 15, 1996
twixt then and now. Alas, the marriage licenses were declared invalid; the
checks were returned. Ceremonies, rich and powerful in emotion and memo
ries, were deemed by the state to have no legal validity. And in a final surge
of frustration, voters rose up to declare that marriage in Oregon would forever
be “one man, one woman.”
Forever? Not a chance. One day, in the not-too-distant future, another
publisher of Just Out will share his or her own memories—memories of the day
that legal battles in Oregon ended with positive results and powerful gains in
the ongoing and never-static battle for civil rights for all citizens. Five years,
10 years, 20 years? It will happen.
arch 8 was the date of the Portland Area Business Association’s debate
between Diane Linn and Ted Wheeler, candidates for Multnomah
County chair. From the get-go it was clear that this race is destined to become
downright unpleasant. Discourtesies aside, the event was well organized and
conceived. Marc Delphine, PABA vice president, deserves praise for the effort
put into staging this battle for the lightweight championship. It was most
unfortunate that his efforts were upstaged by a pixirly timed false fire alarm at
rhe Governor Hotel.
Prior to the evacuation of all present, I’d say the debate was a nonwinner
for either candidate. Linn needs to step up and put some backbone in her
fight. Wheeler needs to stop responding to every question with patronizing
“That’s a very good question, thanks for asking” in a tone of voice reserved for
a visit to a kindergarten class. Ted, don’t speak down to people, please. You’re
looking for our approval. We’re not seeking yours.
With each day bringing new stories of fumbles and skirmishes from the
chair’s office and with Wheeler acting as though he’s already won the seat, the
only contestants I can get excited about right now are on American Idol.
M
s you’ll read on Page 12, Portland has a new community center. It’s really
here. It exists, and it’s open for business March 19—in limited use, in a
shiny new temporary facility. After years and years of planning and work,
Q Center has arrived. In a time when we’re perhaps too often focused on loss
and retreat, let’s all celebrate this quite amazing accomplishment and victory.
Volunteers came forward, leaders emerged, donors dug deep, and a communi
ty takes a giant step forward. Capitalizing on the vision and dreams of 25 years,
the Q Center board is to be held in high regard for its endeavors. Thank you
for a job well done. ©
A
Southern Oregon, an estimated 200
people turned out for a Feb. 27 rally in
Rogue River to unite against hate crimes
and call for safer communities.
• After 33 years, Thomas Disrud feels like
he's finally found his niche in life. The son
of Wisconsin cheese makers and a former
copy editor for Minnesota's Duluth News-
Tribune was recently installed as the
associate minister of Portland's First
Unitarian Church. Disrud is openly gay.
• "Don't ask, don't tell" has hit the terrible twos. To
"celebrate," Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
released the second report on that failed policy at a
Feb. 27 news conference in Washington, D.C. The
report "reveals a continuing pattern of abuse that has
effectively rendered the current policy as bad, if not
* worse than, its predecessors," declared SLDN.
• The Ides of March Slave Auction and
Benefit takes place at the Eagle PDX.
Open to all members of the pansexual
B/D/S/M and fetish communities.
• Refusing to turn their backs on a recent rash of bias-related incidents in
Teamwork
and
sportsmanship
get put to the
test for four
young athletes (clockwise from upper left, Ken
Potts, Alex Sorenson, Matthew Miller and
Jacob Stichman) in Northwest Children’s
Theater’s The Wrestling Season.
FEATURE
22 TAG TEEN WRESTLING
Northwest Children’s Theater production pits
teens’ search for self-identity against the
destructive power of rumors
NEWS
8-17 NORTHWEST
LGBT Health Awareness Week; Kevin Cook
joins Portland Monthly; hate crime investigated
on Sauvie Island; Portland State University
opens Queer Resource Center; Basic Rights
Oregon holds luncheon; Multnomah County
chair candidates debate; Oregon Queer Youth
Conference; Q Center, Pride Foundation
locations open; AIDS healing worship; meet
candidate Tina Kotek
18-19 NATIONAL
Supreme Court rules schools can’t bar military
recruiters; Maryland Republicans want judge
sacked for gay marriage; cop who denied CPR
to gay man faces lawsuit in West Virginia;
Kansas anti-gay church will obey new protest
laws
20-21 WORLD
European soccer player sues for libel; Slovakia
moves to block same-sex marriages; gay group
denounces British Broadcasting Corp.; British
gay bar trashed; Isle of Man votes to repeal
anti-gay laws; France extends parental rights
to same-sex couples; transsexual beaten to
death in Portugal
ARTS AND CULTURE
PLEASE NOTE: March has five Fridays, so the next issue of Just Out won’t hit the
streets until April 7—an interval of three weeks rather than two.
• The Chicago Commission on Human Relations fined
the Chicago Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America
$100 for violating the city's human rights ordinance.
The commission found that the council discriminated
against a gay man when it told him he need not apply
for a job at the council. The commission also ordered
the Boy Scouts to pay the man $500 in damages.
• An estimated $27,000 has been raised so far to establish a gay and
lesbian community center in the Medford area. The center will likely be
named after Roxanne Ellis, 54, and Michelle Abdill, 42, a Medford lesbian
couple who were murdered in early December.
ON THE
COVER
• The Imperial Sovereign Rose Court
presents Dumb, Dumber and Daun—
Closet Ball '96. Cash prize for the best
male-to-female of female-to-male transformation. A benefit for the Audria
M. Edwards Youth Scholarship Fund.
• Basic Rights Oregon (formerly the No on 13 Campaign) is recruiting
volunteers statewide for Neighbor-to-Neighbor organizing meetings, office
work, visibility, fund-raising events and more.
38-39 MUSIC
Chorus performs powerful new work about the
lives of gay men
•
40 FILM
Portland gay filmmaker writes and produces
Freedom State
45 MUSIC
Motherlode celebrates 25 years of harmony
46 BOOKS
Tipping the Velvet author returns with another
sensuous, seamless story
COLUMNS
35 MS.
BEHAVIOR
Courteous
Cruising
36 JIM'S
CLOSET
Men Are from
Mars
42 GET DIRTY
WITH DAN
Plant Safari
44 EPIQUEEREAN
Ear Local. It’s Patriotic!
47 OUT GOING
Let the Good Times Roll